As If 100 Degrees Weren’t Enough

Today I had the firepit going even with an outside temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit because I needed to burn wood that had become infected with oak wilt. Our Oakwilt Specialists of Texas people had told me, when they came to inspect our oaks last week, to have that tree cut down ASAP and burn it so that the spores could not spread. And that I started today despite the hot weather, but I surely can’t wait till winter. I’ll have to continue tomorrow, because the trunk ist still quite green and doesn’t burn easily even if the tree was dying rapidly,

That’s a shame it can’t be kept for winter firewood, but good for you to get rid of the infected stuff, despite the heat. I see that the oak wilt has surfaced in New York, and they’re trying to quarantine it.

😦 I love oak trees, that’s sad news. I hope they get it under control. I read that it can wipe out red oaks, too, very quickly, and that’s what the foresters have been planting near my hometown, after they gave up on red pine.

You’ve reminded me of a Swedish proverb I often heard from my grandmother: “Who does not want to work in the heat, will have to starve in the cold.” At least you’re in no danger of starving, but it would be a shame to lose more trees. Carry on!

Well, unfortunately a lot of our trees did have oak wilt. We’ve lost 25 (mature) oaks. But that bane seems to have stopped now with the treatment. The last two years no more treatment was necessary, and this year only one tree. The tree we had to cut down and burn had never neeb treated, btw, as it was growing nearly in the creek at the edge of our property.

Well, it has to be done. Drinking water? No! I follow my mother’s advice who always told me that drinking water gives you lice in your tummy. 😉 But seriously: Mary always tells me that I don’t drink enough. Today I had mineral water, though. And I was not always outside as the fire was not burning too big.